


A Spoonful of Sugar

by Revasnaslan



Series: Lilacs and Wisteria [13]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Halloween Exchange 2k17, M/M, Pining Ulaz, Space Coffeeshop AU, if nobody else is gonna write a thulaz coffeeshop au then damn it i will do it myself, yeah i went there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-21 10:59:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12456236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Revasnaslan/pseuds/Revasnaslan
Summary: Ulaz has been trying to work up the nerve to ask the owner of the Blend of Marmora out for a while now... perhaps he'll manage it today. Assuming he doesn't die from a sugar overdose.—Written for the VLD Halloween Exchange





	A Spoonful of Sugar

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aretia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aretia/gifts).



> This is for the Halloween Exchange over on Tumblr. I was fortunate enough to get one of my good friends for it, so Happy Halloween Aretia <3 I hope you like it!! ;3c

The start of fall brought with it a slew of problems. For one, it meant that Ulaz had to dig his sweaters out from storage. And today, it was chilly outside. He had bundled up in one of his warmest sweaters before leaving the house—as he lacked anything substantially caffeinating in his apartment, he had to go find it elsewhere. Thankfully, he knew exactly where to go in Daibazaal City to get something warm to drink. The Blend of Marmora was a coffee shop he had found shortly after moving to the capital. It was often quiet and had a very nice and friendly atmosphere.

Also, the owner was cute, which certainly didn’t hurt.

Ulaz had been trying to work up the nerve to ask Thace out on a date for rotations now. However, he hadn’t wanted to impose or make Thace uncomfortable, so he had just let it be. He still visited the shop and bought coffee as often as he could—and tipped generously, since Thace delivered great service.

Today, when Ulaz stepped into the shop, he was immediately hit by an overwhelming wave of sweet smelling spice. Based solely on that, he could tell the scent was not native to Daibazaal. He had lived on this planet his entire life, and while he had moved frequently in his youth, he had never smelled anything even remotely close to this before. He remained standing in the doorway to the shop, as the wind blew the door shut behind him with a loud slam. He took a deep inhale, trying to identify the scent, oblivious to what was going on around him.

“—laz?”

He started, ears twitching when he recognized the sound of Thace’s voice. He was approaching with a coffee in hand, and from here, Ulaz could tell that whatever was in that cup was the same thing that was causing the smell that seemed to permeate the very being of the coffee shop.

Thace paused at one of the booths, setting the cup down next to Slav. The bytor had already become completely engrossed in his daily calculations—and judging by the six or so coffee cups that were already strewn haphazardly across the table, he had been there for a while. Probably since the shop had opened that morning.

“Thank you, Thace!” Slav said, eagerly taking the cup from where it sat in front of him. Then, he proceeded to knock back what must have been half of it at once, while Thace just smiled in return.

When Thace finally turned his attention to Ulaz, his ears were twitching in amusement as he tried to keep a smile at bay. “Are you alright? It looked like you zoned out for a second there.”

“What… what, um… is in that drink that you gave Slav?” Ulaz asked, trying to keep from stuttering and making a fool of himself. He remembered the first day he had come into the Blend of Marmora to get out of the rain, and completely stumbled over his words while trying to order—all because Thace had tilted his head to the side just so and smiled while asking him what he wanted to order.

“It’s something called pumpkin spice,” Thace said, doing that same head tilt. “Ever heard of it?”

Ulaz shook his head. “An import, I take it?”

“Yeah,” Thace said, nodding. “It’s from Terra… apparently it’s a delicacy over there.”

“Ah…” was all Ulaz managed to say, even though he wanted to say more. Thankfully, Thace was accustomed to him not really talking that much—although he continued to remain oblivious as to _why_ Ulaz didn’t talk much around him. Ulaz could manage short sentences, but unless he found something he was really interested in talking about, that was about all he could do.

“Is it chilly out?” Thace asked, motioning to Ulaz’s sweater. It appeared that Thace was still dressed in lighter clothes, as he could manage the cold better due to his thicker undercoat.

“A little bit…” Ulaz admitted.

Thace’s ears gave a flick as his brow furrowed. “You poor thing,” he said, sympathy lacing his tone. Then, he turned and headed back to the counter, ducking behind it. “Can I get you something to drink? The usual?”

Ulaz followed him, stopping in front of the counter and beginning to look over the board. The usual seasonal drinks were up there, ranging from sweet to bitter—Thace’s clientele had vastly different tastes in drinks. Ulaz usually stayed more on the bitter side of the spectrum, as he found most sweet flavors revolting, but…

“Actually… I’ll try one of those… _pumlin_ spice—”

“ _Pumpkin_ , Laz,” Thace corrected, ears twitching in amusement.

Ulaz frowned in confusion. “…What’s a pumpkin?”

Thace cracked a smile as he tried to stifle a snort behind his fist. “The Void if I know.”

Well, if Thace had decided to stock it, then Ulaz would at least try it. They had been friends for a couple of months now, and Ulaz wanted to help out his friend’s establishment if he could. Besides, Thace had already given him coffee on the house multiple times, so he felt as though he owed it to Thace to try whatever it was he had decided to stock. Even if he knew next to nothing about Terran food or eating practices. Or what a pumpkin was.

“You’re sure you want to try it?” Thace asked, eying him cautiously. “I know you don’t like sweet stuff…”

“How bad can it be?” Ulaz asked.

Thace looked at him skeptically before he sighed and rolled his eyes. “You’re horribly stubborn…” he muttered under his breath, shaking his head as he turned to prepare the drink. It only took a couple of doboshes, and when he handed the drink over to Ulaz, he was met with another waft of unfamiliar spice and sweetness. Ulaz managed to withhold his grimace, though. He had asked for it, so he would try it. Just as a service to his friend.

The first sip was disgustingly sweet, and Ulaz had to fight to swallow it.

He must have made a face, because Thace ducked his head, breaking eye contact as he tried to keep himself from laughing. Not for the first time, Ulaz found himself unable to focus on anything besides Thace—and the urge to just confess to Thace that he liked him was on the tip of his tongue. He fought it back, though. At least for now.

“What a trooper you are,” Thace said through his stifled laughter. “Don’t worry about the drink… they’re really sweet. Perhaps too sweet.”

“Even for you?” Ulaz asked in surprise.

“Even for me,” Thace said, nodding his head. Then, he gave a contented sigh. “Now, polan spice tea, on the other hand… I could really go for some of that…”

Ulaz stood there awkwardly, not really sure what to do with the pumpkin spice _thing_ that Thace had prepared for him. It seemed like such a waste to just not drink it, after all.

“Look, how about I get your usual,” Thace said, reaching out to take the cup back from him. “It’ll be on the house, okay?”

Ulaz ears shifted back against the sides of his head, twitching nervously. “You don’t have to—”

“Oh, it’s nothing…” Thace said, waving him off as he turned to start preparing Ulaz’s usual. “Your disgusted face made it well worth it. It was cute.”

Were his ears working properly? Had Thace just… called him cute? Ulaz bit back the confused sounding chirp that had risen in his throat, because he honestly hadn’t been expecting Thace to be so blasé about it like that. He had been trying so hard to not step on Thace’s toes and respect his boundaries because Thace hadn’t given any indications that he like Ulaz—he hadn’t, had he? Now, Ulaz wasn’t so sure.

Thace set the black coffee down on the countertop and smiled at Ulaz, tilting his head to the side. “There you go.”

“Thank you…” Ulaz said, reaching out to take it. His claws tapped nervously against the sides of the cup as he tried to think of how to properly articulate what he wanted to say. “Um… I know this might be a little—” he cut off, feeling his fur heat up when Thace’s ears perked up in interest.

“Yes? What is it?” Thace asked.

“Would… would you like to go out… sometime?” Ulaz managed. It felt like his short fur was going to burn clean off. He half-expected Thace to say no. Surely Thace had better things to do with his time, or he had someone else interested in him. With his personality, Ulaz had been shocked when he had learned that Thace was actually unbonded and single. The surprised look on Thace’s face made Ulaz swallow thickly—clearly, Thace hadn’t been expecting that to be what Ulaz going to ask.

However, Thace’s surprise only lasted for a tick or two before his easy smile returned. “Yes, I would like that, actually. Did you have something in mind?”

Ulaz spoke before he really stopped to _think_ about it. “We could go get coffee—” He cut off when he noticed Thace’s amused look that matched his fond head tilt. “And you work in a coffee shop… right, uh…”

“Let’s just say that you’ll call me, and we can hash out the details when I’m not on shift, okay?” Thace suggested. “My number’s already on the cup.”

Ulaz’s ears twitched in surprise, but he eagerly nodded nonetheless.

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer but i have never had a pumpkin spice latte in my life so i hope they're actually sweet (if not i'll write it off as thace not having a damn clue how they're made and adding too much sweet stuff just cause he doesn't know any better and thinks that's how they're supposed to be made)
> 
> tumblr: [revasnaslan](http://revasnaslan.tumblr.com/)  
> beta'd by: [Akumeoi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akumeoi/pseuds/Akumeoi)


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